David Mills launches appeal in Silvio Berlusconi case

Lawyers for British tax consultant David Mills have launched an appeal against his conviction for accepting a £430,000 bribe from Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Almost 100,000 Italian women have signed up to a grass roots rebellion against Silvio Berlusconi's sexist quips, playboy repartee and notorious eye for starlets, showgirls and actressesPhoto: AP

By Nick Squires in Rome

2:30PM BST 09 Oct 2009

Mr Mills, the estranged husband of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Tessa Jowell, was found guilty of accepting the huge bribe in February and sentenced in absentia to 4.5 years in prison.

Under the Italian justice system, however, he remains free until the case has gone through the country's exhaustive appeals system.

His Italian lawyer, Federico Cecconi, confirmed that he would ask the court in Milan to call Mr Berlusconi, 73, as a witness in the case.

Mr Berlusconi was originally a co-defendant in the trial. He was charged with ordering the payment of the backhander to Mr Mills in 1997 in exchange for the British accountant giving false testimony in two other corruption cases.

A controversial immunity law introduced by Mr Berlusconi shortly after he returned to power last year froze his involvement in the trial.